We Made it

Hi from Bangkok!

It took us approximately 30 hours from Kelowna counting lay overs and flight delays.  But it is all good now.  Our hotel is wonderful; a small boutique style place about 1/2 block off the main road.  They call side roads "Soi" s in Thailand.  So we are located on Soi 19.  We crashed for a few hours and then started to explore Bangkok.

Day 1  -  we decided we needed to stretch our legs and get the blood flowing again so set out on foot to see what the shopping was like.  Things were pretty quiet compared to all the reports I had read, but later I realized this was because everyone was still on their New Years Holidays and no one was working, driving or shopping for that matter.  Well we didn't find any screaming deals so we decided to head back to the hotel and find a Thai massage.  And find one we did!  The place the hotel recommended was booked solid so we just picked one off the street that looked safe and took the plunge.  It was fantastic, however my muscles were screaming for the whole hour.  This was a full body massage with a woman who used her elbow and body weight on me and the gal doing Bill was walking on his back using her heel.  She worked every muscle in my body with extra work on my neck and shoulders because they were the tightest.  She then twisted my body in all directions and finished off with a full scalp massage.  We were pretty much wet noodles when our hour was up.  All of this for only 300 bahts ($10).

We thought we would take a nap but no time.  We had a bicycle tour of Sukhumwit (the area we were staying in)  So we headed out for another walk to find the office of the bike company.  We ended up being a bit early so stopped by a neighborhood hang out for a quick Thai beer.  Not sure this was such a good idea in hind sight.  We arrived at the bike shop, got fitted for our bikes, checked the brakes and headed out.  RIGHT ONTO THE MAIN STREET IN BANGKOK!  Now you know why the beer wasn't such a good idea.  They drive on the left over here which means you also ride on the left.  Thank God it was still a national holiday and traffic was light.  Our tour guide ON was fabulous.  We were the only two on the tour so she took us all over.  Our first stop was at one of the street vendors for a snack on some wonderful spring rolls.  Then we were off again.  Winding through the side streets as darkness fell.  Bangkok has street lights but they don't turn them on.  So the only light we had was the oncoming traffic's head lights.  Perfect!  We travelled through the slum area where people live and work in a space not much bigger than the size of a single car garage.  They were factory workers working on tailored suit orders.  I'm sure they slept underneath their sewing machines.  Most Thai people do not have cooking facilities in their homes so they rely on the street vendors to eat.  Hence the vast number of street vendors.  In the middle of the dark little road way "On" stopped at a street vendor who was selling food as well as Thai whiskey.  The gal poured two shots for Bill and I and we watched her cook a meal for a motor bike taxi driver and then we were off.  Navigating through dark alleys, dealing with Bangkok traffic on the main roads and trying to stay to the left after two shots of Thai whiskey!  But I am happy to report we had no mishaps.  We then travelled through one of Bangkok's many night markets and were amazed at all the things that were for sale.  Live fish in baskets, pigs being butchard on a table, chilies, limes and then we were told we could not take pictures through the next section as the men were gambling.  On our tour guide was fantastic, she was very careful and made sure we knew which direction we were going well in advance.  However she was unable to highlight the pot holes and rough roads because you just couldn't see them in the dark. A little bit different from our nice bike paths in Canada.

Near the end of the tour we stopped at a cluster of street vendors for dinner.  We sat down at a table outside and On went around to the vendors and purchased a variety of dishes for us to eat.  Most were good and when I wasn't sure what it was I let Bill eat it first, then I decided I wasn't going to eat chicken liver and funny looking egg in the soup.  He's a brave man.  The mango desert was my favorite.  On told us many stories about Thai customs.  By the end of the meal we were very full and the lack of sleep was catching up to us so we headed back to the bike office and then back to the hotel.

All in all is was an adventurous first day.